Theater & Performing Arts

When you need a little drama in your life (the good kind), there are so many options to catch a great show. Sit back for soliloquies under the stars at the Oak Park Festival Theatre, set outdoors in Austin Gardens. Summer productions of Shakespeare and other masters will captivate all ages. Students help run the show at The Collective, part of Concordia University Chicago in River Forest, where they stage newer works and twists on classics. Innovation and inspiration fit the bill at the Open Door Theater in Oak Park. Expect music, comedy and drama designed to entertain and provoke. Inclusivity and affordability draw fans to the 16th Street Theater in Berwyn, now in its second decade of eye-opening plays (with a recent move to a larger space). Madison Street Theatre in Oak Park hosts shows by dozens of Chicago-area theater, improv and dance companies at its 180-seat Main Stage and smaller Studio Theatre.